From gars@speakeasy.org Wed Jul 16 08:33:15 2003 Date: 15 Jul 2003 21:56:03 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews11.029 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' VOLUME 11, ISSUE 029 / /-< / /--/ /-- __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, WOTANGING IKCHE - Lakota - Common News Wotanging Ikche and Native American News Copyright c. 1996-2003 nanews.org Aboriginal/AmerIndian Perspective about the First Nations of Turtle Island July 19, 2003 Mvskogee Hiyucee/little harvest moon Eastern Cherokee nvda utsi'dsata'/corn in tassel moon +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported | | in this weekly newsletter. For daily updates & events | | go to http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin -- Blackfeet -- News for All the People Ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min -- Ojibwe -- We Are Talking About Ourselves Aunchemokauhettittea -- Naragansett -- Let Us Share News Kanoheda Aniyvwiya -- Cherokee -- Journal of the People O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse -- Creek -- People's New News O o O Acimowin -- Plains Cree -- Story or Account O o O Tlaixmatiliztli -- Nahuatl -- News O o o o o O Agnutmaqan -- Listuguj Mi'kmaq -- News O o O Sho-da-ku-ye -- Teehahnahmah -- Talking Birchbark O o O Un Chota -- Susquehannic Seneca -- The People Speak O Ha-Sah-Sliltha -- Ditidaht Nation -- News of the People Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli -- Nahuatl -- For you we offer these words It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le -- Chickasaw -- Together We Are Talking Dineh jii' adah' ho'nil'e'gii ba' ha' neh -- Navajo Nation -- What's Happening among The People News Okla Humma Holisso Nowat Anya -- Choctaw -- People(s) Red Newspaper Hi'a chu ah gaa -- Pima -- The stories or the talk of the People Native American News -- Language of the Occupation Forces ==>If you want your Nation represented in the banner of this newsletter<== email gars@nanews.org with the equivalent of "News of the People" in your tribal language along with the english translation <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is produced in straight ASCII text for greatest portability across platforms. Read it with a fixed-pitch font, such as Courier, Monaco, FixedSys or CG Times. Proportional fonts will be difficult to read. <================<<<< >>>>================> This issue contains articles from www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; www.pechanga.net; First Nation and ndn-aim Mailing Lists; UUCP email; Newsgroup: alt.native IMPORTANT!! ----------- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <================<<<< >>>>================> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org <================<<<< >>>>================> +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | As historian Patricia Nelson | | Once a language is lost, it is | | Limerick summarized in "The | | gone forever | | Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken | | * Of the 300 original Native | | Past of the American West... | | languages in North America, | | "Set the blood quantum at | | only 175 exist today. | | one-quarter, hold to it as a | | * 125 of these are no longer | | rigid definition of Indians, | | learned by children. | | let intermarriage proceed as | | * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders;| | it had for centuries, and | | when they die, their language | | eventually Indians will be | | will disappear. | | defined out of existence." | | * Without action, only 20 | | "When that happens, the federal | | languages will survive the next| | government will be freed of | | 50 years. | | its persistent 'Indian problem.'"| | Source: Indigenous Language | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --+ | Institute | |http://www.indigenous-language.org| This issue's Elder Quote: + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + ======================== "Grandfather, Great Spirit, once more behold me on earth and lean to hear my feeble voice. You lived first, and you are older than all need, older than all prayer. All things belong to you -- the two-legged, the four-legged, the wings of the air, and all green things that live. "You have set the powers of the four quarters of the earth to cross each other. You have made me cross the good road and road of difficulties, and where they cross, the place is holy. Day in, day out, forevermore, you are the life of things." __ Prayer of Black Elk, Oglala +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! Snakes periodically shed their skins. This can be motivated by many things, primary among them growth and environmental issues. The shedding process is preceded by a period of relative inactivity. This period usually lasts 1-2 weeks, during which time the eyes begin to exhibit a dull, bluish-white appearance. During this period, the snake's vision is impaired, which causes them to be rather unpredictable and sometimes aggressive. The skin during this period tends to have an overall dull appearance. The underlying new skin is soft and vulnerable to damage while the outer layers prepare to slough away. A snake will make use of any rough objects or surfaces within its enclosure to help shed the skin. Shedding commences with the skin of the head. Once the snake has loosened and dislodged the skin surrounding the mouth and overlying the rostrum (nose), it then passes between rough objects that can trap the loose skin and hold it as the snake glides out of the "old" skin. There is often a great deal of agitation and wriggling as the snake attempts to dislodge its old skin and acquire a new look. I've noticed a period of relative quiet at the Department of Interior and within the Bush administration preceding recent decisions in the Indian Trust case and with regard to the near-universal opposition by tribes to the DoI/Bush plans to reorganize the BIA and add yet another layer of bureaucracy that will have to be penetrated by any Native Nation or Individual with issues - like recognition - in need of BIA/DoI involvement. I really haven't noticed a change in eye color, but I have noticed the DoI trying very hard to rake off the Indian Trust obligations, contempt findings against Secretary Gale Norton and a nation wide distrust of Ross Swimmer's new role in the restructured BIA. The Bush Administration is trying with one attempt after another to achieve an end-around Federal Court rulings by obfuscation, and failing that through congressional law making. The administration really does appear to be blind to the truth and has become increasingly agitated and unpredictable in the methods being taken to avoid court-mandated financial settlement. Consider that the snake, after shedding its skin, is faster and more dangerous. Consider, too, that it is able to begin to grow again to a greater size and power unimpeded by the old skin. If the administration and the DoI are allowed to free themselves of the constrictions of responsibility for past or future excesses -- will they be free to grow bigger, and more dangerous to the sovereignty of Native nations? Unlike the snake, the administrative branch of the government is designed to work within the constrictions of the skin of balance of powers, and responsible negotiation with sovereign states. Dohiyi Ani Oginalii , , Gary Night Owl gars@nanews.org (*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@speakeasy.org (`-') Marietta, GA 30008, U.S.A. ===w=w=== ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- - Only Hope for restoring - Apache Leader was a fugitive Indian Trust Accounts - Imprisoned for Murder - Effort to Kill Trust Lawsuit he may not have Committed denounced - Life for killing Standing Deer - Bid to end Indian Trust Lawsuit - Lawsuit filed struck in Pine Ridge Murders - Chinooks fight for a Future Denied - Lawsuit seeks change - Uranium Threat is Real in Nebraska Relations - Membership Law - Hummel takes case to Supreme Court remains Internal Issue - Prison, American Indian Inmates - Memorial captures settle Lawsuit (NOT) Spirits of Native Leaders - Native Prisoner - Blackfeet embrace -- Retaliation at MSP Indian Horse Racing -- Updated statement on Atwater - Pueblo Worries as -- Prison Families Policy Fire Threatens Spiritual Waters - Rustywire: Go On and On and On - Pueblo Upset by Lyons' Remarks - Poem: Hablan - Tribes fear Cultural Genocide - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days from Tar Creek Site - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Only Hope for restoring Indian Trust Accounts" --------- Date: Wed, July 8, 2003 19:35 From: "Bill McAllister" Subj: FEDERAL JUDGE TOLD HE IS THE ONLY HOME FOR RESTORING INDIAN TRUST ACCOUNTS For Immediate Release: FEDERAL JUDGE TOLD HE IS ONLY HOPE FOR RESTORING INDIAN TRUST ACCOUNTS WASHINGTON, July 8 -- A federal judge was told Tuesday he represents the only hope American Indians have for reforming the government's scandalous management of their individual Indian Trust Accounts. "You are the only institution our clients trust," attorney Dennis M. Gingold told U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. "Your honor, the trail of tears does not end in Oklahoma," Gingold said. "The trail of tears goes to your courtroom." With that reference to the government's forced exile of the Cherokees to Oklahoma, Gingold urged Lamberth to use his powers to help end the seven-year legal fight over the Indians' efforts to secure a full accounting of monies the government should have placed in their trust accounts. "The integrity of the United States is on trial," Gingold declared. At stake is nothing less that the government's sacred word in treaty after treaty that it would protect Native Americans "as long as the rivers long and as long as the winds blow," the lawyer said. Lamberth has previously held that the government breached its trust responsibility to the Indians and must provide them with an accounting. Tuesday the judge concluded a 44-day trial into how he can order changes in the trust and insure that the government is resolving the many, long-standing problems with the trust accounts. Speaking for a group of Indians who filed the class-action lawsuit in 1996, Gingold cautioned Lamberth that the government has repeatedly failed to deliver on its promises to reform the trust. The best solution would be to remove the Interior Department from control over the trust accounts and place them under a court-appointed receiver, Gingold said in final arguments. "We've seen the same story since 1915," Gingold said. "The trust is poorly run...we're going to fix it." Until the Indians filed their lawsuit, nothing happened to reform a trust program that was flawed form its creation in 1887, Gingold said. "For generations, nothing was done because the government felt it was not accountable." Even with almost 50 critical rulings by Lamberth and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Gingold said the Interior Department will never reform the trust and never complete an honest accounting. Since the lawsuit was instigated "everything has been ignored. Nothing has been done," he said. Many Indian trust beneficiaries have died, never able to secure the funds that were supposed to be deposited in their accounts years ago. In Indian Country, there is much suffering, he said. "What we know in Washington is nothing compared to the suffering in Indian Country." The judge said he will accept written arguments on the case on Aug. 4 and rule later on the case. Gingold said the Indians are prepared to push the case to a final trial later this year to end the fighting over the trust system. For additional information: Bill McAllister 202-257-5385 (cell) 703-385-6996 --------- "RE: Effort to Kill Trust Lawsuit denounced" --------- Date: Wed, July 9, 2003 12:43 From: "Bill McAllister" Subj: Native American Leader Denounces Effort to Kill Trust Lawsuit For Immediate Release: NATIVE AMERICAN LEADER DENOUNCES EFFORT TO KILL TRUST LAWSUIT WASHINGTON, July 9 -- Elouise Cobell, who has been leading a successful, 7-year legal fight to secure a full accounting of the government's Indian Trust accounts, urged Congress today to reject so-called compromise legislation that would effectively kill her lawsuit. In testimony before the House Resources Committee, Cobell described the legislation as "a draconian provision that would involuntarily extinguish the claims of trust beneficiaries and eliminate their right to seek redress from the courts for the uncontested century of mismanagement of our trust funds." Cobell, a member of Montana's Blackfeet nation, is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit which has secured court orders requiring the Department of Interior to provide the estimated 500,000 current and former trust account beneficiaries with a full accounting of their funds. The accounts, established in 1887, are supposed to contain the proceeds from government-arranged leases of Indian lands in the West. Members of the House Appropriations Committee are proposing to end the lawsuit and force Indians to accept settlements devised by the secretary of Interior in an effort to end the litigation. Cobell denounced that provision -- Section 137 of the Interior Appropriations Bill for fiscal 2004 -- as the "Mandatory Account Adjustment Directive," or MAAD. "MAAD is a most repressive measure designed to eviscerate the rights of Indian beneficiaries and steal from us the victories we have achieved through 7 years of litigation," Cobell told the committee. "MAAD is touted by its proponents as a sound, reasonable and fair process for "settling" the on-going Indian trust fund case, Cobell vs. Norton," she said. "But in reality it is neither sound, nor reasonable, nor fair." "Simply put MAAD is bad federal Indian policy," she said. Cobell said some lawmakers mistakenly believe that the trust accounts are substantially accurate -- a finding she said was based on an Ernst & Young report that "is so riddled with errors, unreliable and insupportable that it is in fact a sham and cannot serve as the basis of any sound decision making." In fact, Cobell cautioned the committee that instead of resolving the ongoing litigation, that MAAD provision would create even more litigation and delay any settlement of the case. As for a settlement, Cobell noted that the Indians have always been in favor of a fair resolution of the dispute. She noted that her lawyers have told members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that they are more than happy to engage in negotiations with government lawyers. But she noted that those discussing have not been productive in the past and that, in the meantime, the lawsuit the Indians filed in 1996, is moving rapidly toward a conclusion. On Tuesday, a 44-day trial on how to reform the trust account system ended and Cobell said her lawyers are now ready to move on the final phase of the case. Cobell's entire testimony is posted at www.indiantrust.com. For additional information: Bill McAllister 202-257-5385 (cell) 703-385-6996 --------- "RE: Bid to end Indian Trust Lawsuit struck" --------- Date: Tue, 15 July 2003 08:11:07 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUST MEASURE REMOVED FROM BILL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.yankton.net/stories/071503/new_20030715039.shtml House Members Agree To Strike Bid To End Indian Trust Lawsuit July 15, 2003 WASHINGTON (AP) - Two House chairmen have agreed to abandon a bid to end a 7-year-old lawsuit alleging the Interior Department mismanaged billions of dollars owed to American Indians. House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., said Monday that he agreed with Rep. Charles Taylor, R-N.C., chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on the Interior, to remove the provision, which Pombo objected to and was strongly criticized by Indian leaders at a hearing last week. The proposal, added to the Interior Department appropriations bill, would have given Interior Secretary Gale Norton sweeping authority to bring to a close the lawsuit that alleges a century of Interior Department mismanagement of oil, gas, timber, grazing and other royalties from Indian lands. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled in 1999 that the government had breached its obligations as caretaker for the Indian money and ordered the department to account for what should have been paid to the Indian landowners. The plaintiffs say that number could be as high as $176 billion, and tens of billions of dollars never made it to the Indian landowners. The Interior Department believes the error probably is no more than a few million dollars. The appropriations provision would have given the secretary the discretion to do such an accounting as she saw fit, without direction from the court, and would have forced each Indian landowner to challenge the results of the accounting individually rather than in the class-action suit. Indian groups denounced the plan, which was crafted without any advice or counsel from the tribes. Eloise Cobell, a Blackfeet Indian who sued the government in 1996, said it was "designed to eviscerate the rights of Indian beneficiaries and steal from us the victories we have achieved through seven years of litigation." Pombo also objected to the measure because Indians were not consulted and his committee was not included in drafting it, but he still believes the lawsuit should be resolved. "This situation is having an increasingly negative impact on the availability of resources for the critical needs such as roads, schools and health care facilities in Indian country," Pombo said. Pombo's spokesman, Doug Heye, said the congressman plans a series of field hearings in Indian country in the coming months to try to reach an acceptable solution. "I think it's very encouraging that the House Resources Committee ... is taking such a keen interest in this," said Interior Department spokesman Dan DuBray. Copyright c. 2003 Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. --------- "RE: Chinooks fight for a Future Denied" --------- Date: Mon, 7 July 2003 08:18:08 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHINOOKS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2003/0706/cover.html WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? Two centuries after Lewis and Clark, the Chinooks fight for a future denied WRITTEN BY ROSS ANDERSON July 6, 2003 A John Clymer print on display at the Fort Clatsop National Memorial near Astoria in Oregon depicts a group of Indians at the gates to the stockade offering fish and other food to Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery. Clymer, the late Western artist and Ellensburg native, painted the scene from the explorers' perspective - from the inside looking out into the sodden winter rain forest. The short, stooped Native Americans, clad in robes and conical hats woven from grasses and cedar bark, appear apprehensive, inching nervously forward like Dorothy and Friends at the gates of Oz. The explorers watch warily, flintlock rifles at the ready, suggesting a tense encounter. Today's descendants of those Native Americans don't like the picture and ask that it be taken down when they visit. "It's insulting," says Gary Johnson, chairman of the Chinook Indian Nation. "Our people are cowering outside while the white guys are standing erect, chests out, weapons ready." Historians believe the Chinooks (tribal members use a hard "ch" as in "change") may have a point. The wet winter of 1805-06, when Lewis and Clark holed up in their makeshift stockade, was a low point of their expedition. The explorers were cold and hungry, claustrophobic amid towering evergreens that blocked the daylight. The local natives helped them survive by providing fish, berries, roots and the occasional dog - all for the going price, of course. Accurate or not, that scene is as relevant today as it was two centuries ago. Because, even as the nation celebrates the bicentennial of Lewis and Clark's undaunted journey across the continent, the descendents of the Indians who helped them survive that winter now seek official federal recognition as a tribe. Johnson and his fellow Chinook council members claim to represent some 2, 000 Native Americans of Chinook descent, scattered across the region from Seattle to the Oregon Coast and beyond. They have no treaty, no reservation, virtually no federal assistance. They are not even recognized as a distinct people. Their identity was stolen from them some 50 years ago, they say. Stolen by a nameless bureaucrat at the Bureau of Indian Affairs who took it upon himself to decide the ancient Chinook Nation had ceased to exist. "We know who we are, but our government doesn't," says Gloria Reed Brown of Seattle, who drives down to Chinook Country for the monthly council meetings. "They recognize the town of Chinook. They recognize the Chinook salmon. They use those Chinook helicopters . . . Everything except the people." So now they're back, standing at the gates of Oz, hands outstretched, pleading with Congress and bicentennial officials and anybody who might listen: Give us back our identity. If Chinooks ARE a nonentity in Washington, D.C., they certainly are not so in Washington state. "The Chinooks are one of the best-documented tribes in the history of the Pacific Northwest," argues Steve Beckham, an historian at Lewis and Clark College in Portland. "Almost every traveler and explorer who crossed into the Columbia River encountered them and wrote about them." Historically, the Chinook Nation consisted of many thousands of people who occupied both banks of the Lower Columbia and the Willapa Bay region. They were linked by culture and language with the Clatsops, who lived on the south side of the river. Theirs was a rich culture, thanks in large part to the marine environment, which provided a seemingly endless supply of salmon, trout and smelt, sturgeon, shellfish and the occasional whale. They had ample supplies of wild berries and roots. They lived in large, cedar-planked longhouses, carved seaworthy canoes up to 35 feet long, and crafted clothing and baskets from furs, grasses, wool and cedar bark. Geography was their greatest single asset. Chinook villages at the mouth of the river provided strategic control over trade between coastal and inland nations - and eventually with European ships that began arriving in the 1790s. Much of that trade was conducted in what came to be called the "Chinook jargon," an amalgam of English, Spanish, Nootka and other Northwest Indian languages. So, by November of 1805, when Lewis and Clark floated down the river into Chinook Country, the resident Indians were, as Lewis described them, "great higlers in trade." They knew what they wanted, and they knew what they were willing to pay for it. For the explorers, the initial response was extraordinary relief at reaching the end of their year-and-a-half-long trek. "Great joy. . ." Lewis wrote. "We are in view of the ocean. . . which we have been so long anxious to see, and the roaring or noise made by the waves breaking on the rocky shores. . . may be heard distinctly." But events, especially the weather, quickly went downhill. The incessant rain and winds soaked the expedition, and relations with the Chinooks were "tenuous," says historian Beckham. In terms of life's necessities, the Indians were wealthy, while Lewis and Clark were "impoverished," having used up virtually all their trade goods - beads, metal tools, etc. - in exchanges with interior tribes. The entrepreneurial Chinooks "expected more, and got less," Beckham says. This explains why the explorers fortified themselves behind log walls, maintained a 24-hour guard and ousted the Indians at dusk each evening. Even so, the Chinooks provided desperately needed food. And, while the Indians could easily have overwhelmed the invaders, there were no open hostilities. Relations were strained, but peaceful. The following March, the explorers packed up their boats and headed back East. They, and others who preceded and followed them, left a devastating legacy in Chinook Country. Countless thousands of Indians died from epidemics of smallpox, cholera, alcohol and other diseases to which they had no immunity. By the 1850s, farms and salmon-fishing operations, and eventually towns, were sprouting on Chinook land. And there were fewer Chinooks to defend their property. An 1851 census identified 251 Chinook and Clatsops - a small fraction of their pre-contact numbers. Robert Shortress, a government agent based in Astoria, wrote in 1851 that "it is impossible not to feel indignant" about the treatment of the people who had lived there for thousands of years. "I have so long preached patience and hope to them that I am almost ashamed to do so any longer." Shortress called for a treaty and a reservation "secluded from the influence of the whites." In August of that year, Chinook leaders signed a treaty in which they ceded much of the north shore of the river in exchange for promises of cash, clothing, hardware, tobacco, guns and powder and other goods. The treaties were shipped off to Washington, D.C., where no action was taken on them. In their book on the Chinooks, historians Robert Ruby and John Brown suggest that the government balked because whites wanted Chinooks moved to Eastern Washington "where they would be out of the way." A few of the Chinook people eventually moved to the Quinault Reservation, others to the Grand Ronde Reservation about 80 miles south of Astoria in Oregon. But most stayed in their ancient homelands, gradually adopting new lifestyles in small towns such as Chinook, Ilwaco, South Bend and Bay Center. Yet, even without a treaty and reservation, the Chinooks were officially recognized by the government. When the government created the Quinault Reservation, some 100 miles up the coast, Chinooks were allotted tens of thousands of acres of reservation lands - despite the fact that Chinooks and Quinaults were ancient rivals and frequent combatants. Chinooks were treated like any other Indians, Beckham says. They were granted Indian hunting and fishing licenses, and their children were admitted into Indian schools. A century later, in 1951, the Chinooks pressed for federal compensation - $30 million for the loss of 762,000 acres of land, plus hunting and fishing rights. The government eventually awarded them $100,000. Then, in 1954, the BIA quietly terminated its official recognition of the tribe. The agency acted alone, says historian Beckham, without support from Congress, the administration or the law. Today, the tribe operates on a meager budget. Three employees are based in an abandoned schoolhouse in Chinook - near where their ancestors first encountered Lewis and Clark. The building is dilapidated; the toilets back up at high tide. But the struggle continues. Last year, the Chinooks thought they had finally gotten the government's attention. Assistant Interior Secretary Kevin Grover invited Chinook leaders to Washington, D.C., for an official "signing ceremony" proclaiming a government-to-government relationship. Then the Bush administration suddenly reversed itself and announced that "evidence presented by the tribe does not fully support federal recognition." In a sense, one can understand why the government has a tough time finding the Chinook Nation. After 150 years of persecution and assimilation, its members are scattered across the landscape. They are schoolteachers, fishermen, mill workers, electricians, firefighters , taxpayers and pensioners. Few retain any of the Chinook physical characteristics - the short, muscular stature and the flattened foreheads. Today's Chinooks seem thoroughly absorbed by the great sweep of American culture . . . Until you get to know them. Take Gary Johnson, the tribal chairman. A tall, strapping man with longish black hair tied back in a pony tail, he is a public-school teacher and counselor in South Bend. These days, he balances his school responsibilities with his tribal-council meetings and lobbying trips to the nation's capital. His son, Tony, teaches Chinook language and culture at the Grand Ronde Reservation. Sammy, his 2-year-old grandson, toddles around at council meetings babbling in fluent Chinook that most of the council members don't understand. There is George Lagergren, now 81, who grew up the son of a Chinook mother and Swedish immigrant father at Nemah River, near Bay Center. He fished the salmon runs through the Depression, served in the Navy, saw action in the Philippines, Iwo Jima and elsewhere. After the war, he came home to marry Millie, who traces her ancestors directly to Comcomly, the Chinook chief at the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition. They've lived 55 years on an idyllic 125-acre farm in Bay Center, a lovely plot they hope will one day be part of a Chinook reservation. "I'm part Swedish, but I was raised Indian," George says. "I hunt and fish. I can remember when there were longhouses and big mounds of oyster shells down by the shore." He spends his retirement tending to his homestead, carving canoes and painting local landscapes with Chinook motifs. Millie Lagergren sustains another tribal tradition by weaving baskets, highly prized by collectors. And there is Chief Cliff Snider, a 76-year-old retired high-school coach and teacher whose Portland-area school named its football stadium in his honor - "Chief Snider Field." While his mother was Chinook, Snider was raised in Portland, where he was told not to discuss his heritage. He went on to become a star football and basketball player in Portland and at Oregon State, and only later did he discover that he, too, was related to Chief Comcomly. Initially, he says, he attended Quinault tribal meetings because he still owns an old family allotment there. But one day the Quinaults wouldn't let him. "Because I was Chinook," he says. "That's when I began to find out who I was." Snider became involved with the Chinook tribe, serving 22 years on its council, much of it as chairman. When he left the council, he was elected "honorary chief for life." "My mother was raised at Pillar Rock, and she's buried there in a Chinook graveyard," he says. "Now it's somebody's private property. When I go to visit her grave, this guy threatens to shoot me." These days, Chief Snider is the Chinooks' unofficial ambassador to the Lewis and Clark bicentennial. He travels the continent, promoting his people's cause, often draped in his chief's garb. "Our people still recognize the U.S. government," he told an audience of bicentennial officials in Great Falls, Mont., last April. "But we are waiting for our government to embrace us as our ancestors embraced Lewis and Clark two centuries ago." Why do Johnson and Snider and the Lagergrens insist on federal recognition? Skeptics suggest the Chinooks merely want to build an Indian casino and make a lot of money. "This process started long before casinos were on the landscape," says Chief Snider. "There have been offers and suggestions, but we're not interested in a casino." Besides, the casino market is already saturated, adds one tribal member. Who will want to gamble in remote Chinook towns like Bay Center? In part, however, they are looking for money - federal dollars to build a legitimate tribal center, to operate cultural programs for kids, a health program for seniors. And, ultimately, they dream of regaining just a piece of the coastal landscape they lost. "We accept what happened many years ago," says Lagergren. "But we'd like to get back some of what they took from us." Casinos and federal programs aside, the Chinooks insist the fundamental issue is one of identity. "It's not right," says Lois Reed Saxton, of Port Angeles, who drives all the way to Chinook Country for council meetings. "A people as powerful and important as the Chinooks should not be allowed to vanish from the face of the Earth." But, despite the attention drawn by the Lewis and Clark bicentennial, their crusade appears to be mostly uphill. They are just one of dozens of tribes, including Seattle's own Duwamish, who are seeking recognition from a Republican administration that is not friendly to Indian causes, especially those with dollar signs. They face opposition from their old rivals, the Quinaults, who fear losing authority over their own reservation, a large portion of which is still owned by Chinook families. And, not surprisingly, the disparate Chinooks are far from unified among themselves. Johnson frequently reminds interviewers that he, as chairman, is the only authorized spokesman for the tribe. "We want to make sure you're talking to people who really represent the tribe," he cautions. "There are some individuals out there who are not well informed." He refers in part to Cliff Snider, who still lives in Portland and rarely makes it to council meetings. And now there is another group emerging on the Oregon side of the river, claiming to represent the Clatsop people. As always, the politics of Indian country is not all that different from the politics of non-Indian country. Back at Fort Clatsop, just west of Astoria, park rangers are gearing up for an onslaught of visitors expected to retrace the celebrated Lewis and Clark expedition. No small number will find their way to the tiny stockade, only slightly larger than a typical suburban home, and to the visitors center a few steps away. On a gray morning in early May, the parking lot is empty and a young ranger with a trendy, bleached hairdo minds the information desk. A thin mist hovers over the meandering Lewis and Clark River and clings to the old-growth Douglas firs and cedars. The small museum displays relics from the expedition and from the Native American people who greeted them. There is an 18-foot canoe, fishing gear, clothing and baskets woven from grass and cedar bark, and a statue depicting a local Indian stooping alongside the heroic Lewis and Clark. Sally Freeman, a veteran park ranger who specializes in historical interpretation, says she grapples with an array of myths surrounding the relationship between the explorers and the resident Chinooks. The strangers never really understood each other, she says. "These Indians didn't fit the mythical concept of the tall, noble warriors on horseback and living in teepees. These people were short. They didn't ride horses. They lived in longhouses. They didn't wear feathered headdresses." The misunderstandings continue, she says. The National Park Service slide show "suggests that the Indians are long gone, that they somehow disappeared. We need to fix that, because obviously it isn't true." And then there is that dramatic John Clymer print, with the Indians clustered at the gates to the stockade. Clymer called it "Visitors to Fort Clatsop." "It's done from the explorers' point of view," she says. "Maybe we need a new generation of art - done from the Indians' point of view." It might address the question: Just who was visiting whom? Ross Anderson is a retired Seattle Times staff reporter. Copyright c. 2003 The Seattle Times Company. --------- "RE: Uranium Threat is Real" --------- Date: Fri, 11 July 2003 08:22:27 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="URANIUM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_389.shtml Alliance: Uranium `threat is real' By Jim Snyder/The Daily Times July 11, 2003 Conference to be held July 19 in Shiprock SHIPROCK - Numerous unanswered questions stand in the way of bringing back uranium mining to the Navajo Nation, said Perry H. Charley, the director of the uranium education program at Dine' College. In addition, known severe health risks also stand in the way. Charley said there were too many unknowns such as: What would the ramification to groundwater be? What would be done with the contamination? And what to do with the chemicals used for the uranium-leach mining process? Uranium education is the focus of an all-day Strengthening Dine' Unity against Uranium Mining conference July 19 at Shiprock High School auxiliary gymnasium. The conference's objective also includes honoring and healing Dine' elders and families. Currently, there is a proposal on the table by an outside company to implement uranium-leach mining in the Crownpoint and/or Church Rock areas. "The threat is real," said Norman Brown, a Dine' Bidzill coalition leader, on whether uranium mining could resume on the Navajo Nation. At stake is the well-being of the Navajo people and future generations, he said, as well as contamination to the land and air. "We (the grassroot coalition groups) have to push our government in the right direction," Brown said on Thursday. "The only way we can do that is if we unite the legislative branch and the executive branch with a massive lobbying effort." The Navajo administration appears to be split however on the issue: Vice President Frank Dayish Jr. said last spring at a conference in Durango, Colo., that 40 tons of untapped uranium across the reservation could supply income to the Navajo Nation provided tribal members approved of the idea. President Joe Shirley Jr. said, however, that he would oppose any form of uranium mining on the Navajo Nation. He made his comments to area newspapers in Gallup and Window Rock, Ariz., after Dayish's statement was published in The Daily Times. Dayish's office said more than a month after his comments were published they were taken out of context. The decision could eventually end up in the hands of the Navajo Council, Charley said. The legislative branch, listed as the "governing body" of the Navajo Nation, has historically and routinely exercised its power and authority over the president's office. Charley made his comments at the Shiprock Chapter House, less than 1 mile from where a 75-acre uranium-tailing mountain was dumped and covered up by gravel to prevent radiation exposure. The dump, in addition to sick or deceased miners, is one of the legacies left behind from a half-century of uranium mining from throughout the Four Corners. He has been involved in uranium issues for 35 years, including having worked with former Secretary of the Interior Stuart Udall - the father of U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M. - on the Radiation Compensation Exposure Act of 1990 passed by Congress. Charley's father was a Navajo uranium miner who spent six years in a coma before dying of lung cancer. His father was an uranium miner for 27 years. Charley added health studies needed to be improved. "There are no standards in the Navajo Nation for radiological exposure ... we have people out there living in contaminated structures." Brown said in an earlier interview "We're talking soaring health costs and lack of environmental standards on Navajo. This is a good step in exercising our sovereignty. In order to be sovereign we must act sovereign. This is a sovereign act - to say `no.'" Charley and Brown are among more than a dozen featured speakers at the conference. The Leesoii Dooda conference is also being sponsored by numerous grassroot coalition groups and organizations including the Dine' Bidzill, the Eastern Navajo Dine' Against Uranium Mining and the Dine' College Uranium Education Office. Topics at the conference will include the uranium legacy, the health effects of uranium and the environmental impacts of uranium. There will also be testimonials from former uranium miners and miners' widows. In addition, topics include the uranium impact on Dine' land and culture, support for no uranium from Navajo Council delegates and support for no uranium from Navajo elected state representatives. Jim Snyder: jims@daily-times.com Copyright c. 2003 Farmington Daily Times, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper. --------- "RE: Membership Law remains Internal Issue" --------- Date: Tue, 8 July 2003 08:11:09 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="" http://www.easterndoor.com/12-24/12-24-4.htm Membership law remains internal issue By: Ross Montour July 4, 2003 It's been nearly two weeks since a Mohawk Council of Kahnawake delegation met with Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Robert Nault. It is known that the topic that dominated the agenda of that meeting was Kahnawake's draft membership law. It is also known that the minister was not pleased with its contents. Assistant Grand Chief Lloyd Phillips is the first chief to speak about the meeting on the record. Phillips said Nault didn't get into specifics about his reservations with the draft membership law, preferring to speak generally. But, he noted, it was clear the issue "meant a lot" to the minister. Phillips said he wasn't sure which version of the draft law Nault had in his possession. "We (MCK) never gave them (government) a copy of the law. Someone from the community gave it to the government. Then, from there, it went to the government's legal department," the Assistant Grand Chief speculated. According to Phillips, Nault expressed a major concern over the draft membership law because, "it doesn't meet Canada's guidelines on what a membership code should look like." Phillips pointed out that Kahnawake's membership law is part of a process that began well in advance of the development of the federal government's policy on the development of membership codes. The federal government did not enact a policy on membership codes until the 1984 revision (Bill C.31) of the Indian Act had been enacted. Kahnawake, in anticipation of the revision, began its own membership process with the Moratorium on Membership of 1981 which was followed by the passage of the Mohawk Law on membership in 1984, Phillips reminded. The minister raised the question about whether Kahnawake was, by contemplating the passage of the law, stepping out of the Canadian framework, Phillips said. Phillips also reported that the minister was reminded the membership law was part of a community-driven process and that it reflected what the community's concerns are. Phillips responded to reports that Nault had dangled a letter of offer regarding the entering into of negotiations over the Seigneury claim in front of Grand Chief Joe Tokwiro Norton, then dropped it into his lap after warning the membership law could jeopardize the claim. "Nault said membership was going to affect the Seigneury claim, then slid the letter across the table to Joe. Was it unprofessional behaviour? I would say yes," Phillips offered. Phillips assured that if Nault wished to take a high-handed approach with Kahnawake, it would not prove to be productive. He said that a lot of work had been put into the membership law since the beginning of the year and that work on the file continues on course. When will the revised draft be released to the community? Phillips said the plan is to release the revised draft law to the community at the next community meeting, scheduled for August. Phillips agreed the community needs to know the potential risks of going head-to-head against Nault on the membership issue. He said that the MCK has set aside two sessions in order to strategize on how best to communicate to the community where things are at. Phillips said that no decisions have been made as yet. He is hoping the council table will be able to reach consensus by next week, then proceed with a communication plan to apprise the community of the challenges facing it over the membership law. Regarding the 'letter of offer' presented to Norton by Nault, Phillips said that discussions are going on regarding the formulation of a response. While he would not go into specifics at the moment, Phillips felt he wanted to clarify that the letter was not a monetary offer to settle the Seigneury claim - it is an offer regarding the entering into of formal negotiations. Copyright c. 1997-2000 The Eastern Door/Mohawk Territory/Kahnawake, QC. --------- "RE: Memorial captures Spirits of Native Leaders" --------- Date: Thu, 10 July 2003 08:09:31 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DREAMCATCHER MEMORIAL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/~/135224814_dreamcatcher10m.html Memorial 'captures spirits' of Native American leaders By Christine Clarridge Seattle Times staff reporter July 10, 2003 [Brother-sister tribute: The Bernie Whitebear-Luana Reyes Memorial Dreamcatcher will be dedicated at 10 a.m. July 19 on the corner of Yesler Way and 32nd Avenue. Donations to offset the cost of the Bernie Whitebear and Luana Reyes Memorial may be sent to the Leschi Community Council, P.O. Box 22391, Seattle, WA 98122.] Bernie Whitebear was a nationally known activist, revered inside and outside the Indian community for his compassion, strength and vision. Luana Reyes was the founder of numerous health-care clinics that are credited with improving the lives of thousands of urban Indians. Now his ashes and her photographs are encased in a long-awaited memorial - an 18-foot dreamcatcher built by their eldest brother and erected yesterday in the Leschi neighborhood. "It's absolutely perfect," said resident Joan Singler. "It's just what we hoped it would be." She was among neighbors, fund-raisers and Whitebear family members and friends who gathered yesterday at the east end of Yesler Way to watch as a three-year dream came true. Based on a Native American symbol, the dreamcatcher was designed and built over the past year by artist Lawney Reyes of Beacon Hill as a memorial to his siblings. Reyes tucked dozens of family photographs into the sculpture's steel frame and included Whitebear's ashes in the concrete base. "This captures Luana and Bernie's spirits," said Victor John Husselbee of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation. "I was honored to know and work with them in life, and I am honored now to be in their presence." Whitebear and Luana Reyes, who both died in recent years, were nationally known for their political savvy and unrelenting advocacy. They are credited with establishing programs and policies that have helped thousands of urban Indians get health care, jobs and education. In setting up the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, an umbrella organization for social services for the urban Indian community, Whitebear helped unite Indians, many of whom had been historical enemies, said Lawney Reyes. Whitebear led the 1970 occupation of Fort Lawton that ultimately led to the creation of the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, and that same year, he and his sister started the Seattle Indian Health Board. Under her direction, the board became the largest organization of its kind and it remains a model for other urban Indian communities. The memorial, which will be dedicated at a 10 a.m. service July 19, is one of only a few, including Chief Sealth's grave in Kitsap County, locally dedicated to Native Americans. The idea for the sculpture began several years ago when Jill Marsden, a Leschi-area resident and former colleague of both Whitebear and Luana Reyes, approached the Leschi Community Council and Lawney Reyes about a memorial for the two. Initially, the idea was that Reyes would refurbish an old Thunderbird totem he'd built years before at the same site, the corner of Yesler Way and 32nd Avenue. But after taking a look at it, he had another idea. He said his brother and sister would be better remembered by a dreamcatcher. Dreamcatchers originated with the Ojibwas, a large Indian nation with communities in the Midwest and southern Ontario. Webbing is stretched over a hoop to resemble a spider web and decorated with feathers. It was said that the feathers carried good dreams up to the Creator but that bad dreams would be caught in the web and burned by the morning sun. Instead of using feathers, Reyes has fashioned a goat, a whale and an arrowhead from stained glass to represent different tribes and has woven them into the steel-cord webbing of his dreamcatcher. "You know, a lot of people thought Bernie and Luana were dreamers, and they were," he said. "But a lot of their dreams came true, and made a difference to a lot of people." Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com Copyright c. 2003 The Seattle Times Company --------- "RE: Blackfeet embrace Indian Horse Racing" --------- Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 10:47:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RELAY RACING" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20030712/localnews/556999.html Old sport making comeback Blackfeet embrace Indian horse racing By JAN-MIKAEL PATTERSON Saturday, July 12, 2003 Tribune Staff Writer BROWNING - Indian horse relay racing and a rodeo kicked up dust at the new Blackfeet Stampede Rodeo Grounds Friday afternoon during the 52nd North American Indian Days. Relay racing involves 10 teams of four made up of one rider and three holders. Each ride has three horses. He or she races around the track, dismounts and mounts another horse and races on. The holders help the rider exchange horses. The quickest to dismount, remount and cross the finish line is the winner. Total prize money is $15,000 in cash and prizes. Men race the horses bareback and women use a saddle. Indian horse relay racing has been around before Montana was a state. For the Blackfeet Nation, relay racing took place on the reservation until the event began fading away in the 1950s. "Indian relay has been around before, and it's getting better all the time," said Browning resident Leroy Skunkcap, who has been integral in reintroducing relay racing to the Blackfeet Reservation. He started by bringing the event to the Northwest Montana Fair in Kalispell in 1981. Skunkcap, 67, said he was coming back from a rodeo in Idaho and took the idea of relay racing to rodeo officials at the Kalispell fair. He said they were skeptical but assured Skunkcap if he could round up five teams, the rodeo would put up the prize money. If not, Skunkcap would have to come up with the prize money himself. "I had money saved, so I took the chance," Skunkcap said. He rounded up eight teams. The race still is a favorite at the Kalispell fair and since has become a favorite on the Blackfeet Reservation. Indian horse relay racing will make its return to Great Falls at the State Fair at the end of this month. Native Americans "have been running horses since they stayed in tepees," said Scotty Osborne, vice president of the Blackfeet Indian Horse Relay Racing Association. "Way before that." Osborne said that long ago a Blackfeet warrior named Bird Rattler stole the fastest horse from the Crow Tribe and raced it. Racing then became a family event. "It's in the blood," said Willie Kirkaldie, relay racer from Hays. "I've been doing it since I was 10 years old." Kirkaldie, 21, of the Kirkaldie racing team qualified for Sunday afternoon's relay racing championship. "Great Falls was the first race I raced," Kirkaldie said. He was 14 years old and his father, Joe Kirkaldie, signed a release form for his son to race. "It's a family tradition. It's in the blood. My little nephews want to ride horses like me," Kirkaldie said. Kirkaldie won the Keith Bird Rattler Memorial Race on Friday, and his team was awarded jackets. He chose to race in Browning rather than at this weekend's world championships in Sheridan, Wyo. Skunkcap retired as Indian relay race director in 1989 and is now just a spectator. "The younger generation is doing really good," Skunkcap commented. The Blackfeet Indian Horse Relay Racing Association was established about two years ago and has taken charge of racing events on the reservation. Construction for the new rodeo arena began last summer at the site of the old rodeo arena about a half-mile west of the Museum of the Plains Indian on Highway 89. Community members and local contractors worked overtime to finish the arena in time for this weekend's event. The project is funded by a tribal loan and federal grants which probably will total about $600,000 when completed, said Mike Tatsey, president of the United Indian Rodeo Association. "It's a good thing for the reservation," Kirkaldie commented. "It's a good, positive thing for the tribe." Copyright c. 2003 Great Falls Tribune. --------- "RE: Pueblo Worries as Fire Threatens Spiritual Waters" --------- Date: Thu, 10 July 2003 08:09:31 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TAOS FIRE" http://www.sfnewmexican.com/SubSectionID=7&ArticleID=29707 Pueblo Worries as Fire Threatens Spiritual Waters Associated Press Thursday, July 10, 2003 TAOS PUEBLO - The people of Taos Pueblo have been drinking from the clear water of the Rio Pueblo for centuries, but the small watershed is threatened by a 3,950-acre wildfire burning in the mountains east of the pueblo. The Encebado Fire, sparked Friday by lightning, continued to leave a mosaic of charred trees and brush in its wake as it danced across the mountainside Wednesday. By late afternoon, patches of unburned vegetation within the fire's perimeter helped feed a spiraling column of smoke. The pueblo is concerned not only about the sacred sites that line the mountain but about its sole water source - the Rio Pueblo. "The Rio Pueblo is 100 percent of our drinking water. It is spiritual water for us. Religion and everything is tied to it," said Mark Lujan, the Taos Pueblo governor's secretary. "We are looking at protecting this watershed." Gazing toward the mouth of the smoky canyon, Lujan explained that pueblo leaders were concerned about ash and charred debris flowing into the sacred river following the fire. And that concern is not likely to go away anytime soon, he added. "Down the road, we're looking at more debris being deposited because we have hillsides that are denuded of vegetation that normally hold the soil and the waters back from just rushing downhill," he said. Because the pueblo holds the area as sacred, only American Indian firefighters were being allowed to battle the flames as they neared the waterway. Helicopters were also using water from ponds formed by the Rio Pueblo to cool the flames. Lujan said the pueblo was concerned about dropping fire retardant in the canyon since the river is used for drinking water. Nearly 900 firefighters and other personnel have been assigned to the Encebado Fire, which was 10 percent contained Wednesday evening. Some crews were busy building fire lines in the mountains Wednesday while others lined the roadway at the bottom of Taos Canyon, home to nearly 400 families. Fire officials said the fire was about two miles and several ridges from populated Taos Canyon. No evacuations had been ordered, but authorities warned residents in the canyon about the possible danger from the fire. Residents Richard and Carmen Cameron-Wolfe live in a home nestled in trees along the canyon. They have prepared a list of what to take in case they are ordered to leave, but they haven't started packing. The couple admitted that one of their most important items - a vintage Steinway piano - would be difficult to pack. "The piano has to go," Carmen Cameron-Wolfe said. "It's not even a financial thing," Richard explained. "I've had that piano for 27 years." While the couple has been having dreams about evacuating in the middle of the night under less-than-ideal circumstances, they're confident that firefighters can keep the blaze from reaching the canyon. Fire information officer Peter D'Aquanni said crews spent much of Wednesday bolstering a fire line that was completed overnight along the southern edge of the fire - the edge closest to Taos Canyon. A thin blanket of smoke settled in the valleys early Wednesday, but the high temperatures and low humidity of the late afternoon were enough to send a thick plume of smoke into the sky. It towered high above the historic Taos Pueblo. The plume has become an afternoon ritual for the past few days, but pueblo members are far from comfortable with the ominous scene. "Some people get emotionally charged with something like this. They haven't seen it before," said Lujan, the pueblo spokesman. But for a pueblo that has survived a turbulent history from the invasion of the Spanish in the 1540s to a deadly rebellion against the Unites States government in 1847, Lujan said the Taos people and their land will eventually have to recover from this fire. "We're an age-old community," he said. "We don't plan on moving. We haven't moved for the past millennium, and now is not the time we're going to pack up and leave." Copyright c. 2003 Santa Fe New Mexican. --------- "RE: Pueblo Upset by Lyons' Remarks" --------- Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 10:47:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANTI ZUNI REMARKS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.santafenewmexican.com/~SubSectionID=6 Pueblo Upset by Lyons' Remarks By BEN NEARY | The New Mexican Saturday, July 12, 2003 Zuni Pueblo has jumped on State Land Commissioner Pat Lyons for his recent remarks supporting development of a coal strip mine near a lake the pueblo and other Southwestern tribes hold sacred. Zuni Pueblo maintains that an Arizona utility company's plan to pump water for the mine operation threatens continued water flow at Zuni Salt Lake. The pueblo believes the lake is home to a deity called Salt Mother. The pueblo and other tribes use salt from the lake in religious ceremonies. In an interview with The New Mexican last week, Lyons criticized members of the state's congressional delegation for a recent letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior. They asked the department to halt development of the mine until completion of hydrology studies assessing the effect of mining on the lake. "Our delegation people have got to realize that we've got to be more pro-business in this state," Lyons said last week. "They're going crazy." Lyons also said that if New Mexico isn't willing to provide the coal for the Salt River Project, a utility company that provides electricity to Phoenix and other parts of Arizona, the company would go elsewhere. The state, which owns land in the mine area, stands to lose millions of dollars in royalties if the mine isn't built and the state will fall farther behind Arizona, he said. "New Mexico and Arizona entered the union at the same time," Lyons said last week. "They've got the Diamondbacks, a pro (baseball) team. And we don't have anything." Zuni Gov. Arlen P. Quetawki on Friday wrote to Lyons, saying he was shocked and disappointed with his comments. Quetawki informed Lyons that his comment about the baseball team "is foolish and demeaning to the office you hold." "Your comments, apparently made without any contact with Pueblo of Zuni or other affected tribes, display either an appalling ignorance of the real issues involved in the Fence Lake Mine dispute, or an equally dangerous eagerness to subordinate Native American religious rights to the promise of a few jobs and a few dollars," Quetawki wrote. Lyons wrote back to Quetawki on Friday saying his comments were misunderstood and the reasons for his support of the strip mine were misconstrued. "It is regrettable that we are at odds over this project," Lyons wrote to Quetawki. "However, I hope we can reach and (sic) agreement that will not only provide additional revenue to New Mexico's public schools, but also preserve the Salt Lake and provide desperately needed jobs to people in the area, including Native Americans." Lyons took issue with Quetawki's statements that he was ignorant of the issues or willing to sell out Native American religious rights. He has a deep respect for the history, culture and traditions of New Mexico's American Indian community, Lyons said. The mine project promises to pay some $29 million in royalties to the state, Lyons wrote, and "I think you'll agree that is more than 'a few dollars.' " The 18,000-acre mine site, on the Catron-Cibola county border south of Grants, includes state, private and federal lands. State royalties would go to the state's permanent fund, which subsidizes education and other things. In an interview Friday, Lyons said he'll take a different approach when discussing the mine project in the future. "We just want to stick to the issues. I thought we got a little off base, and I apologized to them about that," Lyons said. "We've just got to stick to the issues, and that's jobs and economic development, and not ... making comments about baseball teams. So I apologized for that." At Zuni's insistence, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs retained an independent hydrologist who concluded that pumping water from the deep Dakota aquifer in the area of the mine would likely harm the Zuni Salt Lake. The same hydrologist, Phil King of New Mexico State University, is now preparing another study assessing the effect of pumping water from the more shallow Atarque Aquifer. The Mining and Minerals Division of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department is preparing for a test to measure the effect of pumping water from the Atarque Aquifer. In a recent report to the state, Glorieta Geoscience of Santa Fe, consultants for Zuni Pueblo, claimed the utility company had placed some monitoring wells that are supposed to gauge the effect of pumping the Atarque Aquifer into the deeper Dakota Aquifer. If true, the results could underestimate the effect of pumping on the Atarque. Officials with the Mining and Minerals Division and the utility company have said they're confident the Atarque monitoring wells are correctly situated. However, John Shomaker, a hydrologist retained by the state, said in a letter to the state this month that the Glorieta Geoscience report leads him to believe the monitoring wells are in the deeper aquifer. He plans to analyze the issue more carefully in coming weeks, Shomaker said. Meanwhile, opposition to the mine continues to grow among American Indian groups and environmental organizations. The All Indian Pueblo Council late last month unanimously endorsed a resolution pledging all legal, technical and other resources to Zuni Pueblo to fight the mine project. The council called on the state's congressional delegation to seek a halt to the project. The Zuni Salt Lake Coalition, a group that includes the pueblo as well as environmental groups and others, plans a public meeting called a "people's hearing" at the pueblo later this month. The hearing is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. July 19 at the Zuni High School Cafeteria. An invocation is scheduled for 11 a.m. At noon, there will be informational presentations. At 1:30 p.m., there will be presentations by government and tribal leaders. Public testimony will begin at 2:30 p.m. Dinner is 6 to 7 p.m. Public testimony will resume from 7 to 10 p.m. Copyright c. 2003 Santa Fe New Mexican. --------- "RE: Tribes fear Cultural Genocide from Tar Creek Site" --------- Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 10:47:57 -0700 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KILL CULTURE/KILL INDIAN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.news-star.com/stories/071303/New_93.shtml Tribes fear cultural genocide from Tar Creek site July 13, 2003 By KELLY KURT Associated Press Writer WYANDOTTE (AP) -- Paul Barton grew up in the ways of the Seneca-Cayuga, and so hant environmental director for the Seneca-Cayuga tribe, looks over a sassafrase took the snake in the berry patch as a bad sign. "Snake," he warned, as soft and quick as the slither that parted the grass on tribal land along Grand Lake O'the Cherokees, where berries tempted in fat black clumps. Others ate the berries, which Barton's people honor in dance. But he did not, and not because of the snake. "Where is it safe to pick?" he asked, empty-handed in a thicket that scares him because it sits downstream of one of the most contaminated places in America. American Indians living in and near northeast Oklahoma's Tar Creek Superfund Site worry that traditional ways of collecting food, medicine and ceremonial items from the wild could harm them. And yet stopping these cultural practices stirs a deeper fear -- the death of who they are. "If (contamination) levels render tribal practices unsafe," says Earl Hatley, an environmental consultant to six of the eight tribes here, "then cultural genocide will occur and tribes will die." In the 20 years since the federal government targeted this former lead and zinc mining region for cleanup, the tribes say their concerns have gone largely ignored. Criticism of the government's efforts here is not new. About $100 million has been spent so far, but lead in the soil still threatens children, Tar Creek still flows orange with acid mine water, cave-ins go on and open shafts remain. About 17 percent of the area's population is American Indian. But the Environmental Protection Agency's past assessments of health risks did not take into account how their lifestyles might expose them to contaminants. Tribal people might be more inclined than the mainstream culture to use plants as medicine, the tribes say, or cook river fish whole. "I wouldn't say someone is out to get the tribes, per se," said Tabitha Worley, the Quapaw Tribe's environmental director. "But by a lack of action, by no one taking notice, by no one working on fixing the problem, I think it leads to that." The EPA says it will work closely with its "tribal partners" as it enters the next cleanup phase, which will address giant mounds of mining waste and mill ponds within Ottawa County. But Hatley says that doesn't address lands owned by tribes such as the Wyandotte, Seneca-Cayuga and Eastern Shawnee downstream. The Seneca-Cayuga gathering spot lies along Grand Lake about 17 miles south of the Superfund site's epicenter. Barton points to blackberries and sassafras, poke and wild greens, honeysuckle and buck brush as food, medicine and basket-making supplies. "Come April," he says, "it's not uncommon for everyone to make a comment about (picking) wild onions." Barton lives his days in the "longhouse ways" of his tribe's pre- colonial Iroquois roots, something he explains as a combination of teachings, beliefs, languages and religion. He thanks the Creator when he awakens each day. When he picks blackberries for the berry dance, he talks to them. "It wouldn't be right," he explains, "to take something without asking." As assistant environmental director for the Seneca-Cayuga, Barton also spends part of his time telling tribal members where not to pick, including here. Just beyond the willows, samples taken by the U.S. Geological Survey last year found lead, cadmium and zinc in lake sediments. The zinc levels exceeded sediment standards for aquatic life. Barton fears the field could be tainted by these metals through routine flooding. Efforts to keep tribal members from gathering in such areas, however, are not always successful. The tribes are doing their own research on contaminant absorption in plants considered important to them. The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality is close to completing a study that could answer additional questions about the safety of eating fish from the Neosho and Spring rivers. Some tribal members report open red sores on the fish they catch from the rivers. Hatley believes some state and federal officials have been unwilling to consider the tribes' concerns in the past because of the implications for Grand Lake, a prime tourist and fishing destination. The rivers which flow through the Tar Creek Superfund Site drain into the lake, but he believes commercial interests there would prefer to keep any potential environmental problems quiet. Barton, meanwhile, tries to teach his three children in traditional ways. Sure, he could buy the blackberries and strawberries needed for the dance at the grocery store. But how would he know, he asks, if anyone had talked to them first? Copyright c.997-2002 The Shawnee News-Star. --------- "RE: Apache Leader was a fugitive" --------- Date: Wed, 9 July 2003 08:30:21 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FUGITIVE COUNCIL MEMBER" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/30709TRIBALARREST.html Apache leader was a fugitive By Stephanie Innes ARIZONA DAILY STAR July 9, 2003 Some members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe are reeling from a recent discovery that their vice chairman had an arrest warrant in Tucson. Robert Eugene Howard, 32, who was sworn in as a council member of the tribe in 2000, reportedly never disclosed to the council or his constituents that he had an outstanding warrant in Tucson City Court related to an arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol. "It's embarrassing for the whole nation. We are already stigmatized as alcoholics," said Karen Key, one of 11 members of the eastern Arizona tribe's council. Howard became vice chairman for the tribe of about 14,000 members in December. Prosecutor Laura Brynwood of the Tucson City Attorney's Office on Tuesday said no information on the status of Howard's case was immediately available. A records search Tuesday afternoon showed an outstanding arrest warrant from Tucson City Court in Howard's name. Tucson authorities issued a warrant for Howard's arrest when he failed to appear for court after being charged with driving under the influence of alcohol while his license was suspended, said Tao Etpison, an attorney representing several tribal members who want to remove Howard from office. Etpison said the initial arrest occurred in 1996. According to Etpison, Howard turned himself in to authorities June 28 after news of the warrant surfaced and is now awaiting a resolution to his case, though no further information was available and the Pima County jail had no record of a Robert E. Howard as of Tuesday night. When tribal prosecutors began investigating in June, they turned up a second warrant for Howard's arrest in Mesa City Court, where he never followed through with a 1995 arrest for assault and property damage, Etpison said. Howard, who was not available for comment, told the San Carlos Moccasin newspaper that the offenses occurred when he was young and he thought the charges had been handled, Key said. "But he took two oaths of office while he was a fugitive. That's an issue," Key said. "And he was driving a tribal vehicle while on a suspended license." Etpison said Howard is on a self-imposed leave of absence until the case is resolved. Contact reporter Stephanie Innes at 573-4134 or sinnes@azstarnet.com Copyright c. 1999-2003 AzStarNet, Arizona Daily Star. --------- "RE: Imprisoned for Murder he may not have Committed" --------- Date: Thu, 10 July 2003 08:09:31 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="IMPRISONED APACHE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=2557 Apache man imprisoned for murder he may not have committed Former prosecutor among those who think he is innocent ODESSA TX SAM LEWIN July 9, 2003 An Apache man who has been imprisoned in Texas for murder since 1983 will likely be paroled later this year, but that's nowhere near enough for him. James Harry Reyos wants his name cleared and he has some pretty powerful believers in his innocence: a former prosecutor and the bishop who officiated at the victim's funeral. Those involved with the story say to understand the case, you have to comprehend the social climate in Ector County, Texas, in the early 80's. It was before a wider acceptance of homosexuality, before the sex scandals in the Catholic Church, a time when prejudice against Native Americans was little more than an open secret. THE MURDER The body of Father Patrick Ryan, a 49-year-old priest in Odessa, Texas, was found in a seedy motel on December 22, 1981. A maid discovered him lying facedown in a blood-streaked bedroom. Ryan was nude and his hands were tied behind his back. He had checked in under an alias, because of that it took several days to identify the body. Police had no initial suspects and wondered what a respected member of the clergy was doing in a third-rate motel. Ector County officials later determined Ryan had been murdered between 7 p.m. and midnight the previous evening. For almost a year the case went nowhere. THE SUSPECT In those days, Reyos was basically a drifter. The New Mexico man had been kicked out of college for drinking and subsequently traveled from Albuquerque to Memphis to parts of West Texas. Evidence later showed he met Ryan and had a sexual relationship with him. During that time he was also arrested numerous times for alcohol related violations. Reyos now blames some of his excessive drinking on his guilt over being gay. He says he knew early on he was attracted to men, but his religious upbringing wouldn't let him acknowledge it. He returned to Albuquerque in November of 1982 and made a phone call that would alter the rest of his life. He called 911 and admitted to killing Ryan. He offered no other details, simply said he was the killer. Police arrived and again he confessed, but recanted soon after, saying, "In the name of God, I didn't do this." THE TRIAL His public defender at the time thought that despite the confession, there was a good chance Reyos would be acquitted. Reyos had a speeding ticket and eyewitness testimony showing he was 200 miles away from Odessa at the time of the murder. He had passed a lie detector test and there was absolutely no physical evidence to tie him to the scene. In all the times Reyos was arrested, he had never once exhibited any sign of violence. A psychologist examined Reyos and concluded he was innocent. He said Reyos was a dystonic homosexual, a gay man who feels utter shame over his sexual orientation. Reyos, the doctor concluded, was not a violent person. The doctor believed Reyos's confession was false and was brought on by guilt over having sex with a representative of the religion that taught him homosexuality was wrong in the first place. Reyos also testified he had been binge drinking and using drugs heavily in the weeks leading up to the confession, drifting in and out of consciousness. No matter. The jury found him guilty and sentenced him to 38 years in prison. Some people believe Reyos never stood a chance. "His homosexuality and his Native American status played a role," Adam Fellows, the attorney now representing Reyos, told the Native American Times. "We don't have many Native Americans in West Texas. It's clearly a part of the country with a pervasive prejudice against Native Americans. And even a fairly open minded jury back then would likely be considered the most homophobic jury now." Fellows says the crime rate had been skyrocketing in Ector County and citizens were angry. They wanted convictions and prosecutors were eager to oblige them. A confession, even if it was false, was more than enough. Reyos went to jail and the case was closed. THE PROSECUTOR Dennis Cadra was an assistant prosecutor for the Ector County District Attorney in 1991. The office was being cleaned and a secretary asked Cadra if he still needed the Reyos case file. Cadra hadn't prosecuted the case, so he grabbed the papers, initially intending to give the documents a cursory review before tossing them. He read. And read. And he began to believe that James Harry Reyos was innocent. "I noticed his alibi was fairly ironclad. He had traffic tickets proving he was out of the area. Apparently the jury just ignored it," Cadra told the Native American Times. He timed the route himself, seeing how long it would take to drive from Odessa to the places in New Mexico where Reyos had proof he had been and still return in time to kill Ryan. Remember, the medical examiner was positive Ryan had died between 7 P.M. and midnight. "I am fairly certain he did not have the time. He would have had to average over 100 miles the entire way. With the ways those roads are, he couldn't have done that," said Cadra. In 1981, the only route between Odessa and New Mexico was a narrow, two-lane road with no shoulder. After considering the evidence, Cadra took the unprecedented step of writing a letter to Ann Richards, Texas governor at the time. "Despite my sixteen years as a prosecutor, I came to the firm conclusion that it was physically impossible for Mr. Reyos to have committed the crime," the letter stated. Cadra wasn't alone in believing that Reyos was innocent. The Bishop Emeritus of the Amarillo Diocese, the man who presided over Ryan's funeral, has also examined the case. He too believes Reyos is innocent and wrote a letter in support. The appeals fell on deaf ears. Again, the social climate wasn't right for Reyos. The state's parole board had just approved the release of a convicted killer who had gone on to murder several times again. Smarting from the embarrassment, they weren't about to take another chance. So, Reyos has stayed in prison. His father died during the time he spent behind bars. Now, he has finally been granted a parole date, a virtual assurance that he will be released in December of this year. That's not enough for him. He wants a full pardon. "He wants to clear his name," said Fellows. "He is not interested in any [money] from the state. He just wants to have his name back." The story has received national publicity. In 2001, Reyos gave an interview to the Houston Chronicle. "I had an airtight alibi," Reyos said at the time. "I couldn't believe it." Native American Times is Copyright c. 2003 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Life for killing Standing Deer" --------- Date: Wed, 9 July 2003 08:30:21 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LIFE SENTENCE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/1985776 Man gets life for killing American Indian activist By LISA TEACHEY July 8, 2003 A Lakota Indian from Maryland was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for the slaying of a 70-year-old parolee who had become an activist for prison inmates and an advocate for American Indians. Pius Vinton Smashed Ice, 38, will not be eligible for parole for 30 years. He pleaded guilty in May to the Jan. 20 stabbing death of Standing Deer, a Choctaw Oneida also known as Robert Hugh Wilson. Smashed Ice originally told police that burglars broke into Standing Deer's townhouse in the 11600 block of Chimney Rock and that he found Standing Deer dead, authorities said. Smashed Ice later admitted he killed Standing Deer during a violent argument. Defense attorney Randy Ayers had asked state District Judge Belinda Hill to consider a lesser sentence. Because Smashed Ice has a prior assault conviction in South Dakota, the minimum punishment was 15 years. In his confession, Smashed Ice expressed remorse and apologized to Standing Deer's family, Ayers said after the proceeding. Ayers said Smashed Ice had come to Houston from Baltimore to help Standing Deer with his activism, Ayers said. Smashed Ice said they began abusing drugs and alcohol, though an autopsy found no alcohol or drugs in Standing Deer's body. Smashed Ice said Standing Deer had made unwanted sexual advances, Ayers said. The attack was allegedly prompted by another seduction attempt. "In response to that, and kind of fueled by the drugs and the alcohol, he sort of snapped," Ayers said. Prosecutor John Jocher asked Hill for the maximum sentence. "The physical evidence is contrary to the defense theory this was a dispute involving sex," Jocher said Tuesday afternoon in a telephone interview. "The defendant has been to the pen before for a violent attack in which he also stabbed someone." Standing Deer was stabbed four times in the back, 12 times in the chest and one time in the face, Jocher said. "Because of who Standing Deer was, this is more than just a loss to his (family)," Jocher said. "This was a powerful voice lost to the entire Native American people." Standing Deer had spent about a quarter century behind bars for state and federal robbery convictions. He was killed a little more than a year after he was paroled. Copyright c. 2003 Houston Chronicle. --------- "RE: Lawsuit filed in Pine Ridge Murders" --------- Date: Thu, 10 July 2003 08:09:31 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MURDERS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2003/07/10/news/local/news03.txt Lawsuit filed in Pine Ridge murders OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska officials had little to say Wednesday about a federal lawsuit filed by a man demanding the state create a task force to investigate the 1999 deaths of his brother and cousin near Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. In the lawsuit filed Monday at U.S. District Court in Omaha, Thomas R. Poor Bear also asks the state to investigate about 50 other unsolved homicides at the reservation. "Certainly, I have a great deal of sympathy for the families of people who have been murdered," Attorney General Jon Bruning said. "I think a lawsuit is an extremely unique way to precipitate change in this case." The state had not been served with the lawsuit as of Wednesday morning, so Bruning said he had no comment on the merits of the case. Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns' spokesman Chris Peterson also had no comment on the lawsuit. Peterson said that if anyone had any new information about the deaths, they should contact police or the FBI. According to the lawsuit, the bodies of Poor Bear's brother, Wilson Black Elk Jr., and his cousin, Ronald Hard Heart, were found in a roadside ditch between Whiteclay, Neb., and Pine Ridge on June 8, 1999. The men had been beaten and mutilated. The crime remains unsolved. About three weeks later, the American Indian Movement organized a march and prayer ceremony in memory of the murdered men. According to the lawsuit, the march was disrupted by vandalism and arson when local and state law enforcement officials failed to protect the marchers from people who had been drinking around Whiteclay. According to the lawsuit, nine people, including Poor Bear, were arrested on trespassing and other charges when marchers tried to hold another service a week later. The lawsuit accuses the state of violating Poor Bear's First Amendment right to free speech and assembly in its handling of both marches. Poor Bear also wants the state to better regulate liquor sales at the nearby village of Whiteclay, where four stores sell about 11,000 cans of beer daily. Copyright c. 2003 the Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Lawsuit seeks change in Nebraska Relations" --------- Date: Fri, 11 July 2003 08:22:27 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="INDIAN RIGHTS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2003/07/11/~/news01.txt Suit focuses on Indian rights -Federal-lawsuit plaintiff seeks change in Nebraska inter-racial relations By Natasha D. Bordeaux Journal Staff Writer A federal civil lawsuit filed against several Nebraska state officials is seeking "significant change" in the way the state of Nebraska deals with its American Indian neighbors on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The lawsuit, filed Monday, July 7, in U.S. District Court in Omaha, Neb., is an attempt by Oglala Lakota Tribal member Tom Poor Bear, a reservation resident, to obtain reparations for what he claims are several civil- rights violations against himself and the Lakota people. "I'm looking at this lawsuit as education for the state of Nebraska; That we are not going to bow our heads and look the other way," Poor Bear said. He said he wants people in Nebraska to realize that the mistreatment of American Indians is unlawful and unconstitutional. "We are a people, too. And we have rights, like any other people in this country," Poor Bear said. His lawsuit refers specifically to violations that occurred during marches held June 26, 1999, and July 3, 1999, among others. Poor Bear and eight others were arrested during the July 3, 1999, march, according to the lawsuit. "They violated my rights, my freedom of speech, of religion and my right to assemble," Poor Bear said. Poor Bear is the organizer and spokesman for several marches on Whiteclay to protest the lack of investigation into the unsolved murders of his bother, Wilson Black Elk Jr., and his cousin, Ronald Hard Heart, and the sale of liquor to Indians from the Pine Ridge Reservation. Hard Heart and Black Elk were found brutally murdered in a field between Whiteclay and Pine Ridge, S.D., on June 8, 1999. Poor Bear is the founder of Camp Justice, which sits on the area where the two men's bodies were found. "They violated Wally Black Elk and Ron Hard Heart's rights in that Nebraska has not done a thorough investigation to these murders. They haven't even been involved in them," Poor Bear said. He said he is not seeking monetary reparations. "It's a matter of principle. I just don't want the state of Nebraska to continue to violate the rights of indigenous people, Lakota people. I hope this lawsuit will give them a better understanding of our rights," Poor Bear said. The lawsuit makes several specific requests of the federal court. It asks for damages for civil-rights violations against Poor Bear and the Lakota people. It also asks for the creation of a task force for the investigation of the unsolved murders as well as other murders and violent crimes committed in the Whiteclay area. It requests a determination that the Whiteclay area be redesignated as part of the Pine Ridge Reservation. And it asks for the creation of a continuum of alcohol treatment programs in or near the Whiteclay area. Named as defendants are Nebraska State Patrol superintendent Tom Nesbitt, Sheridan County, Neb., Sheriff Terry E. Robbins, Nebraska Liquor Control Commission chairman Robert Logsdon, and liquor commission members Richard Coyne and Rhonda Flower. Nebraska officials have declined to comment on the lawsuit. Poor Bear said Nebraska officials do not value Indians' lives in the same way they value the lives of white people. He referred to a bank robbery and resulting five murders that occurred in Norfolk, Neb., on Sept. 26, 2002. "The legislative body called a special legislative session. They said they would use every resource in the state of Nebraska, that they would catch the murderers," Poor Bear said. "When my people are murdered ... the state of Nebraska has no special session for them," Poor Bear said. He said his lawsuit is about attaining respect for Indian people. "The state of Nebraska does not feel the pain of our people when they are found murdered in their state," Poor Bear said. Poor Bear's attorney, Bruce Mason of Omaha, said Poor Bear filed the lawsuit to attain justice. "He believes that the denial of equal justice to Lakota and himself must be stopped," Mason said. Mason said Poor Bear is filing the lawsuit as a means to make a change. "It needed to be done. It's the right thing to do. Something has to be done about the situation there. Not to act only fosters more of the same," Mason said. He said Poor Bear is motivated to influence the way American Indians are treated by government officials of Nebraska. "If he were to win and get the relief, he would see significant changes," Mason said. "I expect a long, arduous struggle," he said. Copyright c. 2003 the Rapid City Journal. --------- "RE: Hummel takes case to Supreme Court" --------- Date: Wed, 9 July 2003 08:30:21 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RACIST CONVICTION" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.whitehorsestar.com/story Hummel takes case to Supreme Court by Sarah Elizabeth Brown July 7, 2003 Daniel Hummel says he was convicted of murder because no one would believe that a nice white woman would have sex with a dirty native man. And he's taking that claim - and the argument that the Crown relied on "myths and stereotypes" to win its case - all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. In written arguments filed last Thursday, Hummel is seeking leave to appeal his case before the nation's top court. His case was rejected twice by the Yukon Court of Appeal after he was convicted of raping and beating 35-year-old Regina Thyrone to death in April 2000 in Whitehorse. He's currently serving the mandatory 25 years in jail before being eligible for parole. "This case is about ensuring that the discriminatory treatment received by aboriginal people within the Canadian criminal justice system comes to an end," the filed argument says. "The drastic over-representation of aboriginal people within both the Canadian prison population and the criminal justice system ... will continue to fester if the Crown is permitted to rely on stereotypical images of aboriginal people in order to obtain criminal convictions." At the heart of the defense's raising of the race card is the closing address made by the Crown prosecutor at trial in February 2001. Thyrone, an accountant in Whitehorse to help the federal Justice Department with year-end paperwork, met Hummel in early April. The next weekend, he gave the woman a tour of several galleries around town that were displaying his carvings. The next Monday, she didn't show up for work, spawning a massive search that eventually led to her body being discovered Good Friday, April 21. She was found, clothed but dead from blows to her head and neck, at a make-shift camp in a wooded area behind the Robert Service Way baseball diamonds. Hummel's semen was found in her vagina, on her panties and on a strip of nylon tied to her left wrist. There were no signs of trauma associated with sexual assault, nor could the experts determine when the intercourse happened former Whitehorse defense lawyer Kim Eldred said in the arguments filed Thursday. Eldred now works out of Vancouver. For a person to be convicted of first-degree murder, the Crown must either prove Hummel planned the killing or that it happened during the commission of another offense, such as sexual assault or unlawful confinement. To peg Hummel with first-degree murder, the Crown had to prove that the sexual intercourse between the accused man and Thyrone wasn't consensual. "The Crown had no proof of when the sexual intercourse between Daniel and Regina occurred," the arguments read. "Mere evidence of sexual intercourse cannot support a conviction for first degree murder where the Crown cannot show that the sex and the murder were part of a continuous sequence of events forming a single transaction." Eldred argues that prosecutor Edward Horembala "mislaid his evidentiary burden" when he said to the jury during his closing address, "Why would Regina Thyrone have consensual, unprotected sexual intercourse with Mr. Hummel?" Horembala described Thyrone as a non-smoker, middle class, extraordinarily neat and tidy, and asked the jury to look at Hummel and his alleged victim. "Anything to indicate, if you look at the appearance and condition of Mr. Hummel, that Regina Thyrone, on the evidence, is interested in having unprotected sex with him, or having unprotected sex with anyone?" Horembala is quoted in the filed arguments. Hummel, a first nations man, was described as poor, toothless, needing a shower and stinting of alcohol. The Crown must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, Eldred wrote, and if it can't meet that burden, it must not resort to appealing to stereotypes held by jurors to gain a conviction. At Hummel's appeal hearing heard in Whitehorse last summer, the man's defense lawyer at the time made similar race-based arguments when he suggested the jurors should have been queried about their views on sex between white and native people. At that time, Horembala said he hadn't been referring to Hummel's race when he made his comments to the jury. Instead, he said, he was questioning why a woman known for her fastidiousness would consent to sex with such a scruffy appearance. Both of Hummel's lower court appeals were rejected unanimously. Generally, appeals are only heard at higher courts if there was some disagreement between the appeal judges at the lower level. While the Supreme Court of Canada receives more than 800 requests to hear cases each year, only between 10 and 20 per cent actually make it before the panel of judges. The top court often tries to reserve its time to hear cases that have national significance. Eldred argues this is just that sort of case, noting that other famous cases have changed how the courts look at prejudices first nations people face at the sentencing level. She's asking the supreme court to lay down guidelines preventing the stereotype of the "drunk Indian" seeping in at the trial level. In her arguments, Eldred notes that case law dictates that a rape victim's sexual history can't be used against her in an effort to weed out stereotypes that can work against complainants. She suggests the supreme court needs to lay down such guidelines to prevent the same sort of myths and stereotypes hurting the accused as well. "Rape mythologies extend to both the accused and the complainant," Eldred wrote. "In the same way that prosecutions for sexual offenses cannot be decided based on myths about the sort of person who is a victim, they cannot be decided based on myths about the sort of person who is an attacker." She also suggests the trial judge should have done more to tell the jury not to base its verdict on "the myths propagated by the Crown." "A right-thinking society cannot condone an aboriginal man being convicted of first degree murder based on the `improbability' that a white woman would consent to have sexual intercourse with him," the filed arguments conclude. "By granting leave to appeal, in this case, this Honourable Court will have the opportunity to set down guidelines to ensure that aboriginal people are no longer convicted on the basis of myths and stereotypes." Copyright c. 1997-2003 The Whitehorse STAR. --------- "RE:Prison,American Indian Inmates settle Lawsuit(NOT)" --------- Date: Thu, 10 July 2003 08:09:31 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MONTANA STATE PRISON" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.helenair.com/articles/2003/07/10/montana/a01071003_05.txt [Editorial Comment: Before you celebrate, read "Retaliation at MSP in "Native Prisoner"] Prison, American Indian inmates settle lawsuit BY SHAWN WHITE WOLF - IR Staff Writer July 10, 2003 Montana State Prison officials and American Indian inmates reached a settlement out of court recently over alleged religious discrimination by prison officials. The inmates' complaint pinpointed 16 different ways in which prison officials allegedly misused Department of Corrections policies to shut down or limit American Indians' traditional religious practices - while allowing non-Indian denominations to function with less or no intrusion. Even though prison officials agreed to settle with the complainants, the settlement agreement states that prison officials aren't admitting to any violation of law or other wrongdoing. Inmates Manuel Redwoman, Danny A. Arledge, Wayne Brown and Bill Smock filed a complaint against the MSP with the Human Rights Bureau in November 2002. The inmates said prison officials belittled and oppressed American Indians by limiting and/or confiscating religious materials or by direct verbal attacks on American Indian ethnicity, culture and religion. For example, inmates stated that their dream catchers, rattles, medicine wheels, bone chokers and medicine bags were confiscated under a policy that stated the items must be store bought and ordered through Father Pins, a Catholic priest, or such items were considered contraband. Corrections officials didn't return telephone calls Wednesday. Another complaint stated that American Indian decorated feathers and medicine bags were being confiscated because of the colors and designs of the beadwork. Inmates said the colors and designs in the beadwork represented a person's standing and clan within a tribe. The inmates in several of the complaints said that other denominations, like Catholic, Buddhists and Muslims, were all allowed their religious items, such as the various styles of religious related beadwork or hats. Chaplains and spiritual advisers from various denominations, under a "Religious Programs and Services Policy," also received a budget that provided for adequate delivery of religious programs and services. However, the inmates stated that prison officials have yet to provide a budget to allow American Indian spiritual advisers to come into the prison. Still, the High Side Prayer Warriors, a spiritual group, said they were told that no outside organizations were allowed to donate their religious items. The prison policy states that any religious supplies, such as items needed for prayer times, have to be donated from a certified national body of a particular religious group. The prayer warriors felt that under this policy the tribes and Indian alliances should be allowed to donate religious supplies as other faiths are allowed to do. In addition, inmates stated that prison officials have allegedly made direct verbal attacks on both American Indian inmates and American Indian volunteers. In some instances, the inmates alleged that prison officials referred to the volunteers who enter the prison for traditional American Indian religious activities as "Indian lovers." The settlement included several revisions to the prison's religious policy statements. The prison's policy statement on religious programs and services was revised to prevent discrimination against any faith groups. The objective of the new policy is to equitably distribute religious resources for the benefit of all offenders and to protect the religious rights of inmates of all faiths. Also, prison officials agreed to provide one religious coordinator position and two non-denominational religious adviser positions. A revision of another policy included statements that said religious activities, in consultation with religious advisers, are open to the entire inmate population, without regard to race, color, nationality or, ordinarily, creed. The revision to the searches and contraband control policy now states that a prison official wishing to search a medicine bag and pipe is only allowed to do so visually, rather than inspecting the items by hand. Other policy revisions included changes in various religious activities that pertained to give-aways, sacred herbs, beading and sweatlodges. The settlement stated that prison officials agreed to implement and enforce the terms of the settlement with the American Indian inmates within six months. Reporter Shawn White Wolf can be reached 447-4028 or shawn.whitewolf@helenair.com. Copyright c. 2003 Helena Independent Record; a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Mon, Jul 14 2003 19:18:40 -0700 From: Janet Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NATIVE PRISONER" ===== Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 16:14:29 -0700 From: Sue Buck Subj: Retaliation at MSP - Sweat Lodge Disrepect & Desecration Mailing List: FN Greetings Everyone, Since Brigitte will not be back on line until tomorrow, I was asked to update you right away on some recent events. Some of you may have read the article mentioned below concerning Montana State Prison and the settlement reached with Native American inmates which appeared in at least a couple of Montana newspapers yesterday, Thursday, July 10th. Manuel Redwoman himself just found out about the article and barely finished reading it when he learned that the prison has already instigated retaliation procedures: The Sweat Lodge area has been totally disrespected and desecrated. 1. A Native American inmate gets locked up for possession of a metal shank. (May be a conveniently made up charge). 2. The Chairman of the Prayer Warriors, a Native American inmate in a totally different block, has also been locked up for investigation of alleged involvement with the shank. (Locked up under false pretenses as retaliation). 3. Although the alleged incident was said to have taken place a few hundred feet away from the Sweat Lodge, security personnel have totally gone through and all around the Sweat Lodge area; in and out the front and back door areas, in and out and through the side areas, in back of and behind the Sweat Lodge area claiming that this is being done for security reasons. When considering the feasibility of anything illegal being in or near the Sweat Lodge area, one needs to consider two factors: 1. There is absolutely no access to the Sweat Lodge area without authorization. 2. The Sweat Lodge area is in a secured fenced off area. 4. The prison staff entered the Sweat Lodge area without a sponsor or pipe carrier, further disrespecting the beliefs and sacred traditions of the Native American inmates and their People. We all know that this type of behavior and disrespect would *never* be allowed to take place were it an inmate of a different faith; they would not go into the chapel with a metal detector, disrespecting and desecrating the grounds on which the chapel stands. Although the State of Montana has a Native American population of around 4 1/2%; approximately 18% of the prison population is Native American. It seems discrimination takes place in at least two ways here: 1. The Native American population is being discriminated against as they are being sent to prison more frequently than other races. 2. Once they are in prison, they are even further discriminated against as we see things like the above take place where their religious beliefs and what is sacred to them are disrespected and desecrated. Manuel was not sure how long he would be in general population as he could be next to be locked up on false pretenses and retaliated against. Brigitte should be back on line tomorrow to update everyone and hopefully bring better news than I have just relayed. (and also to make any changes or additions to what I have just written since I don't really know what I am doing :-) Thank you for your time and interest, Sue ========================================= Date: Sunday, July 13, 2003 7:44 PM From: "Kim Foltz" Subj: Atwater Hi Janet and Gary, Attached is the updated statement on Atwater from NAPS. It is long but as explained in the release, it is necessary to include background info. Please include a request for the statement to be widely posted. Thanks, Kim ========================================= Letters/faxes/phone calls are urgently required to express your concern over the treatment of Native spiritual advisor, Lenny Chavez. While this action is not expected to alter any immediate outcomes, it is still very important that your voices are heard, as measures need to be taken to ensure that the next advisor does not face similar obstacles. NAPS has received an official response from Robert Haro, the Regional Director, which we find less than satisfactory, since it fails to address any of the issues raised in our inquiry, and places sole blame on Mr. Chavez. Like Mr. Haro, NAPS also hopes to work toward an amicable solution, and we will be addressing his response. However, we will not condone the disrespect of Native advisors and Native Culture. My apologies for the length of this posting; however the history leading up to this recent event is very important. -- Valerie Scott, NAPS Background: NAPS has been working closely with Native spiritual advisor, Lenny Chavez, for over a year to help resolve several issues at USP Atwater, concerning the Native American prisoners. It has been a long, uphill struggle, but progress has been made as officials responded to inquiries. The track record of USP Atwater and its Native advisors is short, and troubled, at best. The former Native advisor did not last long, and Mr. Chavez has had to battle for every small gain which, of course, is the real reason for what has now happened. Prior to Mr. Chavez's arrival, there was next to nothing for the Native prisoners, in terms of sacred items, a sweat lodge, or spiritual programs, and there were questions as to where allotted funding was going. NAPS was asked to get involved because of the ongoing issues and difficulties the advisor was experiencing. Mr. Chavez dealt swiftly with any problems identified as initiated by the prisoners. Problems with the Chaplain continued to escalate, from late 2002 until early this year, and cumulated with the resignation of Mr. Chavez. It was our view that officials were continually frustrating Mr. Chavez, so he would leave voluntarily, because he was not a "yes" man, and strongly defended the rights of the Native prisoners. NAPS talked to Chaplain Barnes concerning several issues, including the resignation, and reported back to the prisoners and Mr. Chavez. At the time, the Chaplain believed it would be easy to replace Mr. Chavez and continue the Native programs. The prisoners had been misinformed by the Chaplain concerning Mr. Chavez's departure and were understandably upset when they learned the truth. They made it clear to officials that they wished to have Mr. Chavez continue as their advisor and NAPS was asked to mediate a resolution. In response, NAPS requested a joint meeting, to include Chaplain Barnes, Mr. Chavez, and members of both Circles. The importance of the Circle was explained to officials, as was the importance of having the opportunity for all concerned to face each other with their accusations. The end goal was to achieve some resolution and closure. Officials agreed to the request and a very candid meeting took place. Upon the invitation of officials, Mr. Chavez agreed to return to Atwater, so the Native programs could be continued. One of his conditions for returning was to continue the joint Circle, in order to provide better counseling and to prevent any further misunderstandings between parties. Officials approved bi-monthly meetings, which they limited to a certain number of prisoner representatives from each yard, and on the condition that Chaplain Barnes was in attendance (the latter being an important point). Another condition of Mr. Chavez's return was to obtain clearance to visit the Native prisoners in the lockdown units, who were being denied access to a Native spiritual advisor. This request had been made in writing by NAPS on at least two other occasions prior to the resignation. NAPS questioned the double standard of allowing advisors from other faith groups in lockdown, but not the Native spiritual advisor. Again, an agreement was made, and the visitations to the lockdown unit had only been underway a few weeks, when the following incident happened. What Happened? In an unrelated event, Native inmate Steven Jackson #06274-156 was stabbed repeatedly by a group of Native inmates, while his cellmate Teddy Stivahtis #63527-065, was held at knifepoint and threatened. These events were captured on security tape, and there are allegations that a guard opened Mr. Jackson's cell door, so the stabbing could take place. However, NAPS was not aware of this allegation when it sent inquiries into the matter, and cannot confirm the allegations. Mr. Chavez learned that some Native prisoners were aware of the plans for the assault, but chose to remain silent, so he conducted his own interviews with the prisoners, and the Circles were severely reprimanded. One of Mr. Chavez's concerns was that a group of prisoners involved in the incident remained in general population, and was allowed by officials to keep attending the Native Circle and ceremonies - a practice he questioned officials on. During his rounds of the lockdown units, Mr. Chavez had the opportunity to meet with Inmate Stivahtis on two occasions. For some ironic reason, he had been placed in the lockdown cell right next to his assailants, who threatened and terrorized him daily, and repeatedly took his canteen. At the time, Inmate Stivahtis refused to leave his cell and informed Mr. Chavez that his life had been threatened several times by these inmates. On the evening of 5 June 2003, Mr. Chavez spoke to the Lieutenant on duty at the lockdown unit, who assured him that the prisoner would be moved immediately for his safety. NAPS also faxed the prison and BOP officials with a similar request on 9 June 2003, after learning of the inmate's situation. In addition, we also questioned why the other accomplices in the stabbing remained in general population. We mentioned the name of one prisoner, because that was the only name we had. Please note that this inquiry was only sent to the Warden, while copied to the Regional Director, BOP Central Office and Mr. Chavez, and that the prisoners did not have access to this information, unless leaked to them by officials or guards. Retaliation from the Captain of the lockdown unit was swift (which makes us question what they are covering up) and Chaplain Barnes was instructed to inform Mr. Chavez that his clearance for the lockdown unit had been revoked, and that he must meet with the Captain. This meeting took place on 18 June 2003, and was attended by Chaplain Barnes and an officer from the Gang Intelligence Unit. Events unfolded as follows: 1. When Mr. Chavez arrived at the prison, he was denied access, and was told the meeting would take place in the outside visitor's area. His badges were taken without any explanation. 2. Neither officer wore his ID badge, presumably to prevent Mr. Chavez from identifying them. 3. The Captain informed Mr. Chavez that he did not like the inquiry from NAPS, which made him "look bad". He also stated that he did not like being told what to do and, therefore, was denying Mr. Chavez any further contact with the prisoners in lockdown. 4. Both officers were rude and aggressive, and warned Mr. Chavez to "shut his mouth", or they would have him fired. They also informed him that he was to have no further contact with NAPS. 5. The Captain then informed Mr. Chavez that both he and NAPS were under investigation by Gang Intelligence, for allegedly facilitating gang activities. They claimed that the "real" reason Mr. Chavez wanted a joint Circle was to accommodate gangs. Never mind that Chaplain Barnes is present at these meetings, and this is an insult to Native culture. 6. At this point, Mr. Chavez questioned the Captain's motives, and was informed the officers could always make things look like the above. 7. NAPS has never received any official notification of the alleged investigation and has demanded the said paperwork. 8. When Mr. Chavez expressed his concern for Inmate Stivahtis's safety, and told the officers of his earlier request for help, he was called a "liar". When Mr. Chavez asked the officers to repeat their accusation, he was again called a liar. 9. The Captain then spun another story concerning Inmate Stivahtis's involvement in the stabbing; however, security tapes show that he was a victim, and that was how officials made their arrests. Mr. Chavez is concerned that this inmate continues to be a victim and remains in danger. 10. The Captain then accused NAPS of endangering the life of one of the accomplices, because we had named him in our inquiry. As mentioned earlier, the only way the prisoners would find out this name is through officials. 11. The Captain further informed Mr. Chavez that inmate Jackson would remain in lockdown for one year, until he is transferred. Neither Mr. Chavez nor NAPS is questioning the need to keep him there - but we are questioning the cruel practice of telling him every few days that he will go back to the general population soon. We feel that this is a cruel and unjust game, which builds up and crushes the inmate's hopes and spirits. 12. When the officers threatened Mr. Chavez once again, he quit with immediate effect. Mr. Chavez made it very clear that he would not bow to their threats and blackmail (and neither will NAPS). The Response: 1. To our knowledge, Inmate Stivahtis has not yet been moved and may remain in danger. However, Inmate Jackson has now been released to general population (after NAPS inquiry), a fact that Mr. Haro failed to mention in his response. 2. There is a double standard in that officials are saying Mr. Chavez went beyond the scope of his work as a Spiritual Advisor, by discussing the stabbing incident with inmates, yet there is no issue over the chaplains discussing the same matter. Moreover, officials fail to acknowledge that the Native inmates were more inclined to discuss the incident with their Native advisor, than they were with prison officials, and that the prisoners were severely reprimanded by the advisor for their actions. While security is always a valid concern, Mr. Chavez actually assisted officials by preventing further retaliation among the Native prisoners. 3. Officials claim that Mr. Chavez would not assist them with pertinent information, a claim denied by Mr. Chavez. This leads us to wonder if a Catholic priest would be treated the same way, should a prisoner make a confession to him. And would the priest be forced to break the confidence of the prisoner? 4. Officials state that during the said meeting, Mr. Chavez asked to have his contract cancelled; however, Mr. Chavez had never signed a contract because he had still not been presented with one (an issue raised again just recently). 5. Mr. Haro claims that the disputed meeting was designed to explain security concerns and Mr. Chavez' duties, which may well be true; however, NAPS is wondering why this had never been done beforehand, considering the ongoing issues and cultural misunderstandings. One of the major issues at Atwater is that the Native spiritual advisor does not have the same rights as his mainstream counterparts, which severely limits his ability to counsel prisoners, and no reason has ever been given for this discrepancy. 6. Atwater is now without a Native spiritual advisor once again. Mr. Haro has stated that they regret Mr. Chavez' decision and are looking for another Native American advisor. Wouldn't the right thing be to meet with Mr. Chavez to hear his side of the story? Mr. Chavez was never consulted in this review process, nor was he allowed to face his accusers. 7. Atwater and the BOP now need to meet with Native leaders to discuss the role of the Native spiritual advisor and how official expectations and perceptions might differ from that of Natives. We believe that a common ground can be found and that all parties are willing to work toward a solution, as no one wishes to see the prisoners caught in the middle of these disputes. Action: We would ask that you contact the following official to: 1. Express your concern over the treatment of Mr. Chavez and the ongoing issues at Atwater. 2. Inquire as to why Mr. Chavez was not invited to participate in the review process. 3. Request that a new investigation be conducted that includes all parties concerned. 4. Inquire as to whether or not Inmate Stivahtis has been moved to ensure his safety. Please keep your inquiries polite. We thank you in advance for your assistance. (NAPS) Official to Contact: Robert Haro, Regional Director, BOP Western Regional Office 7950 Dublin Blvd., 3rd Floor Dublin, CA 94568 Phone: 1-925-803-4700 Fax: 1-925-803-4809 For those wishing to contact Mr. Chavez, he can be reached at: Lenny Chavez P.O. Box 321 Mid Pines, CA 95345 Phone: 209-966-6404 ==================================== Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 00:44:47 -0700 (PDT) From: "THUNDERINGDRUMS@webtv.net" Subj: [ndn-aim] Request to allow prison families to return to Pow Wows Fwd from Marletta, from SDPS .... Date: Fri Jul 11, 2003 1:08 pm From: "Marletta" Subj: posted this before I wanted to post this again and ask those of you who have group sites etc if you could post this on your sites and help us get more attention to this matter. Thank you very much. Marletta -- Prison Families Policy - Request to allow prison families to return to pow wows April 23, 2003 Hau (Greetings) Family Members, Relatives, Friends, Supporters, Spiritual Leaders, Tribal Prisoner Liaisons and Representatives, all Tribal Councils and the Grey Eagle Society. In the summer of 1995, our families, were removed, from attending our Pow Wows here in the Jameson Prison and the Main Prison on the hill. At the same time, Wanda Hawk-Gerry, was removed, from her job as our Native American Liaison. This was a job created by former Warden Joe Class and former Governor Walter Dale Miller in 1993. Linda Boyd, Principal for the Coolidge Learning Center, was also removed, for asking too many questions about the monies that came to the prison for insurance purposes, after the riot on May 5, 1993. Her questions were making people feel uneasy. Wanda was fired by the staff of Warden Class which doesn't seem to be right because he was the main person who publicly advocated for the job of the Native American Liaison, which Wanda was hired into, as one of the remedies to help the large population of the Native American prisoners. Warden Class and Governor Miller made the decision to find money in the state budget for the Native American Liaison position. Since the riot of 1993, our prison time in general has become extremely harsh, we have lost a majority of our personal property rights, many prisoners have died to suicides, our time on the yards and in the recreation buildings is for one hour each day. The political backlash that we have received has been very cruel and unusual. The Native American prisoners were blamed for the riot in the 1993, and as a result, a whole new system of policies and rules were put into place for the Jameson Prison and the Main Prison on the hill. There is proof that the riot was not caused by the Native American prisoners but by the mob mentality of a majority of the prisoners who were on the yards that night. Don Parisian, former Correctional Officer, who was in the Westgate control Tower, where the riot started, knows how everything began. He was able to see what happened. Before the riot in 1993, there was a powerful atmosphere of caring and compassion, in all of our prison communities. All of the prisoners got to enjoy the luxury of becoming a serious artist or craftsperson because we had good art supplies and craft projects. We were allowed to order our own sports equipment, buy our own stereos and music. The food was very good and it was served in generous portions. After the death of Gina Score in 1999, a new policy was put into effect here, that said, all prisoners would be weighed at a certain base weight, and if the prisoners exceeded their base weight in their food consumptions, then all food items from their weekly commissary purchases, would be removed by force. This policy is wrong for us because it was written without the understanding that all humans are categorized into three weight divisions. One is for the heavy weight people, two is for the large people and three is for the small people. Within these three weight divisions, our craving for food, especially in prison, is a natural desire. We must look at the conditions that were here in the final months before the riot happened. Here are some that existed. We stand behind our words with a strong heart and mind. The attitude by the staff against the Native American prisoners was very negative. Alonzo Bush and Thomas White Hawk, two senior Lakota men, both serving life sentences were pleading for medical help but were not receiving any. They both died in 1997. Alonzo died from cancer and Thomas died from a massive heart attack. Our younger Native American prisoners were being harassed frivolously by staff, some were being threatened and assaulted by staff, and most were labeled as troublemakers and kept locked away in the Adjustment Center which is now known as the Special Housing Unit or the (SHU). This is a letter that will achieve serious clarity for the Native American prisoners in the Jameson Prison and the Main Prison on the hill. The contents of this letter are not meant to downplay anyone or cause any hard feelings. This letter is the truth about some of the concerns, issues, problems and overburdens, that are here with us as we live in prison. The truth must be told before any amount of reconciliation can occur. Our families must be allowed to come back. Entering prison for our Pow Wows is a process that our families understand. They would have to be cleared through security before entering prison. All family members must be 18 years old, possess a valid photo ID card and not be on another prisoner's visiting list. Family members are allowed to come in but they are limited to nephews, nieces, uncles, aunts, grandfathers, grandmothers, male cousins and female cousins. We are asking to have our brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, children and grandchildren, approved to come back in. We cannot forget the preciousness of our wives. The Jameson recreation building is where we have our Pow Wows from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The recreation building has a gymnasium for the Pow Wow, a changing room for the dancers, a hallway with two security cameras, a shower room with one security camera and a large shakedown area. We can be shook-down here before returning to our Units. There is still no tribal language or culture classes because prisoners are not allowed to teach other prisoners, yet, we have chapel clerks, librarians and school tutors, who are allowed to act as teachers of religion in the chapel and in the curricular studies at the school. The chapel clerks, librarians and school tutors, are paid a daily wage which is set for all prisoners. For fear of retaliation by staff, none of the tribal prisoners in the Jameson Prison or the Main Prison on the hill, wants to do or say anything about the return of o